Shugakuin Imperial Villa 修学院離宮

Okay, I have switched to the new Beta Blogger, though I am not planning any major reconstruction for my blog site. I am content for now. I have however decided to make my pictures bigger for better viewing. I have another photoblog as well which you can see on the right where I will post only pictures in much bigger sizes than you can see here. If you guys are having problems downloading this blog page because of the change in picture size, please let me know so I can revert back to the old sizes. I know all about Malaysian internet speed and how much of a headache it can cause. But before I start talking about the merits or dimerits about beta blogger, let me bring you on a tour of Shugakuin Imperial Villa in autumn.



This is my third time here now, my annual pilgrimage to this beautiful place in autumn. I remembered my first time being there and I was so happy because it was my first autumn experience and I was justifiably awed. The place has always been beautiful.



Best part about visiting this place is that it is FREE! Although you have the little hassle of pre-booking a place at the Imperial Palace Information Center, it is well worth it. You can also book through the internet, though you if you choose to do that, you have to book months before. But don't worry if the internet booking is full because you can still go to the information office to book in person.



Shugakuin Rikyu is famous for the its gardens and you can see why. There are three gardens: the lower, middle and upper gardens. I have the pamphlet somewhere....can't find it, so most of this information comes from wikipedia. You can't roam the grounds freely; you have to join a guided tour. But it beats hassling with the insane crowd during momiji season in Kyoto.



The past two times I had been here, the weather had been the same, cloudy and sunny interchanging. In fact, the weather this autumn had been pretty miserable....there had only been a few sunny days.



Short history of Shugakuin Imperial Villa: This place was first built by the retired Emperor Go-Mizunoo. After his death, his daughter Princess Mitsuko built a temple there which later became the Middle Garden. It was renovated during the rule of the 11th Shogun.



Because it is a guided tour, you have only limited time to take pictures of the place. In fact, sometimes you don't really have that much time, especially with the guard behind you with his stern face asking you to move along. At times, I was just tempted to put my camera on continuous shooting mode and just walk and press my finger on the shutter! So we were like hurry hurry...pose, snap and run!



Despite having been to alot of places to view the momiji, I still think that Shugakuin Rikyu remains one of the better places to view the autumn scenery. Other temples like Tofukuji, Kiyomizudera and Eikando are beautiful as well but the crowd can drive you nuts! Well, with either option, you have to give up something: deal with the crowd but you can take your own sweet time or no crowd but on limited time.



Ah Radhi and Raghu! These are the autumn views you guys were suppose to see! Nevermind...next time yeah! Or during the cherry blossoms period, though for that, you have to get the timing just right!



Just look at the colours! The orange, the red, the yellow....



So if you guys are scratching your heads figuring where to go this autumn, why not try Shugakuin Imperial Villa? I have more pictures in my flickr album, so feel free to look.